Graham Hornigold gives the classic comfort dessert of rhubarb and custard a dazzling update in this stunning recipe. Not for the faint hearted, there are various components to manage and some tricky steps to manoeuvre through, but the finished result will be worth the effort. When dipping the anglaise balls, make sure they are completely frozen and that the cocoa butter mix is very hot - this will help to get the thinnest coating that you can.

Graham Hornigold’s expert pastry skills have been refined in some of the best restaurants and hotels in London. As Executive Pastry Chef of Hakkasan Group, he brings a delicate, refreshing touch to their restaurants’ dessert menus.

Begin by preparing the rhubarb purée. Wash and cut the rhubarb into small pieces, then place into a saucepan and mix with the sugar. Cover the top of the pan with clingfilm, place over a medium heat and allow the rhubarb to slowly break down - this should take around 20 minutes

1kg forced rhubarb

100g of caster sugar

2

Continue to cook the rhubarb until it looks stewed in texture, then remove from the heat and put into a colander or strainer lined with a double layer of muslin cloth. Hang the rhubarb over a bowl and allow the juice to separate from the flesh in the fridge overnight

3

Set aside the strained rhubarb juice to use as poaching liquid and blitz any remaining pulp in a blender to form a smooth purée. Pass the purée through a fine sieve and refrigerate until required

4

For the poached rhubarb wash and cut the remaining rhubarb into 20cm sticks and place into a vac pac bag along with 150g of rhubarb juice. Vacuum seal tightly and poach in a water bath at 65˚C for 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the rhubarb. Once cooked, plunge the bags of rhubarb into an ice bath and allow them to cool completely before using

1kg forced rhubarb

5

Next prepare the vanilla anglaise. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan, then bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Whisk together the sugar and yolks and pour them slowly over the hot cream mixture, whisking continuously until well combined

250ml of milk

250ml of cream

200g of egg yolks

50g of caster sugar

2 vanilla pods

6

Return the pan to a low-medium heat and bring to 82˚C while constantly stirring. Pass the mixture through a fine chinois and allow to cool. Place in the fridge to chill, then pour the anglaise into the 20 demi-sphere moulds

7

Freeze the anglaise until solid, then remove from the moulds and press the 2 halves together to form 10 spheres. Push a plastic cocktail stick into the top of each sphere and return to the freezer until required

8

To coat the spheres, gently melt the cocoa butter in a pan. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in a microwave. Combine the melted white chocolate and cocoa butter together in the pan, then pass through a fine chinois and set aside

350g of white chocolate

150g of cocoa butter

9

Dip the frozen anglaise spheres into the cocoa butter mix and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to ensure the outer layers set and the anglaise in the centre melts

10

To make the pastry cream, combine the vanilla, milk and 90ml of whipping cream in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to infuse for 20 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, yolks and custard powder together until pale. Reheat the infused cream, then strain over the yolk and sugar mixture

250ml of milk

90ml of whipping cream

50g of sugar

25g of custard powder

50g of egg yolk

250ml of milk

2 vanilla pods

11

Return the combined cream and egg mixture to the pan and place over a gentle heat. Cook out until the floury flavour has gone and the pastry cream mixture thickens and looks like a heavy custard, stirring with a whisk for a smooth texture

12

Once the pastry cream has cooked remove it from the heat and transfer to a suitable container. Place a sheet of cling film in direct contact with the cream to avoid a skin from forming and leave to cool

13

Once the pastry cream has cooled, weigh out 100g and place into a bowl. Beat to loosen the texture and then gradually pour in 200g of whipping cream, whisking until thick to form a diplomat crème. Transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate until required

200g of whipping cream

14

Preheat the oven to 180˚C

15

To make the crumble, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and soft. Add the flour and oats and mix together to form a soft dough. Roll the crumble mix out across a tray to roughly 1/2cm thickness, then bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove, allow to cool and pulse in a blender to form a crumble

50g of butter

50g of Demerara sugar

75g of flour, sifted

25g of Oats

16

To serve, cut the poached rhubarb into random sized batons and arrange across the plate. Add a few small piles of the crumble and use a larger one in the central of the plate as a base for the anglaise spheres, securing with small pipings of diplomat crème. Finish with some small squirts of the purée and crème, scattering over the freeze dried raspberries and edible flowers

edible flowers

1 tsp freeze-dried raspberries

Want more recipes like this delivered to your inbox?

Sign up to our newsletter now and we'll send you a hand-picked round-up of the best seasonal recipes and features from the best chefs each week.

Your information will only be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

Invalid email address

Thanks for subscribing

We'll only contact you around once per week with the best recipes and features. You can unsubscribe at any time.